Shoe for preventing and relieving flattened arches



Oct. 7 1924. 1,510,890

F. HUNTER SHOE FOR PREVENTING AND'RELIEVING FLATTENED ARCHES Filed Feb 6, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.2.

M: fiat Oct. 7 1924. 1,510,890

F. HUNTER SHOE FOR PREVENTING AND RELIEVING FLATTENED ARCHES 3 Filed Feb. 6, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Got, '7, 19241,

UNITED FREDERICK HUNT-ER, 015 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHOE FOR PREVENTING AND RELIEVING 35IlZ|AT'Il.IEll\T ED ARGHES.

Applieation filed February 6, 1922. Serial No. 534,558.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK HUNTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Shoes for Preventing and Relieving Flattened Arches, of which the following is-a specification.

Considering shoes with heels, the type of footwear to which this invention particularly applies, the customary practice leads to the production of a shoe having a shankportion inclined downwardly and forwardly from the breast of the heel to the ball or tread-portion of the sole, and inclined laterally from the inner toward the outer side of this shank-portion. That is, taking any point between the rear and forward extremities of the shank and at its outer side, this will be found in shoes as now made to be lower than the shank at the heel-breast, and lower than the trans versely alined inner shank-edge. This shank-conformation produces evil effects upon the foot of the wearer, which, while all too fully felt,have never, so far as I am aware, been traced to their true source. Topermit full realization of the action of the usual shoe-form, it should be noted that the bones of the foot between the os calcis and the first phalanges furnish, as faras downward flexing is concerned, a normally substantially rigid structure, arched at its inner side; this arch, in the action of the foot in walking, increasing its upward convexity, but not straightening or flattening below its normal curvature. This isdue to the manner in which the bones are articulated, and to the exceedingly dense ligaments, as the plantar, which connectthem. The outer side of the foot presents the same resistance to downward flexing; but here,

instead of being arched, there is a more. nearly horizontal treading base, the unshod foot along this border contacting with a supporting surface in an unbroken line from heel to ball. When the thus-formed foot is placed within the usual heeled shoe, and

the body-weight thrown upon it, supportv for the inner side may be practically continuous, especially if an arch-support is used.- At the outer side, however, because of the longitudinal inclination of the shankportion of the shoe previously mentioned, support is furnished only at the heel or os' calcis, which is alined with the leg-bones, and receives, through the astragalus, "the first impact, and at the ball or forward end of the metatarsals. Held firmly in the laced or otherwise secured shoe-upper, the foot is unable to adjust itself'to a bearing, and the intermediate articulations between, the os-calcis and cuboid and between the cuboid and fifth metatarsal are deprived of the natural support which "they would receive out of the shoe, This bridging efl'ect producesfan abnormal and irritating strain upon the outer portion of the foot, which is accentuated by the tendency to shift out} ,wardly upon the transversely inclined sur face of the shoe-shank, and by the further movement or roll in this direction,caused by the running-over of the heel at the outside. To relieve the strain andbecause the normal position of the outer foot-portion is horizontal, the body strives to -right itself, and transfers its weight, applied to the astragalus through the tibia andfibula, to the inside of the foot. The downward stress of this inwardly rolling movement of the foottoward a balance is exerted at the highestpoint of the arch,between the os calcis and the scaphoid. The applications of this abnormal strain, repeated again and again in walking, gradually weaken and stretch the ligaments unitingthe successive bones of the arch, so that this flattens, frequently causing extreme suffering and seriously crippling the subject. The object of my invention is to prevent and relieve this strain and the consequent relaxed condition 0% the foot andto improve the making of s oes.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1- represents, in elevation, the outer side of a normal human foot, with the bony structure indicated in dotted lines; Fig. 2 il-m lustrates, in elevation, looking at the outer side, a shoe made in accordance with this invention, withthe-bones of the foot included therein; Fig. 3is a similar view of.

the oppositeor inner side; Fig. 4 is atop plan View of the sole-portion of the shoe with the upper removed; Fig. 5 is a transverse section therethrough on'the line 5+5 of Fig. 4; and Fig. 6 is a side-elevation of the last upon which myimproved shoe is made,

take in the same direction as Fig 2.

Considering particularly Fig. 1 of the drawing, it willb'e seen that the undefor ned a re ili human foot 9 there represented, when resting unshod upon a horizontal supporting surface, has, along its outer side, a practically unbroken line of contact at 10 with said surface. When this natural support exists, there is perfect balance of the bodyweight, as transmitted through the astragalus 11 to the os calcis 12, the cuboid 13 and the scaphoid 14, it being received to a great-extentdirectly by this areaat the outer border, and without lateral shift of the footstructure, so that the stress exerted upon the unsupported arch is well within its ca pacity to sustain. This natural support and balance my invention insures for the wearers of heeled shoes, in which, as alread pointed out, the foot has heretofore been subjected to an entirely different condition, which is one of distortion Referring par ticularly to Fig. 2, in which is illustrated a foot within a shoe 19formed in accordance with this invention, it will be seen that I maintain the outer side as near to its normal state-of continuous rectilinear contact with the supporting surface as is consistent with the presence of the heel 20 which is de manded by the wearers of shoes. This area of contact 21 over the insole continues, and is aligned with a. preferably plane heel-seatsurface 22, from thebreast of the heel 23, forwardly in a plane parallel to the tread-surface furnished by the bottom of the heel at 2 l and the ball-portion 25 ofthe out sole, tov points adjacent to such ball-portion. More exaotly,these forward points of the plane area 21 are just at the rear of the extreme forward extremity 15 of the fifth metatarsal bone 16, say three-quarters of an inch, more or less. Between this and the inferior surface 17 of the os calcis, the sup port offered is precisely the same as it would be were the foot unshod. Moreover, this plane surface also extends laterally of the shank-portion, preferably for its full width beneath the fifth metatarsal bone of the foot of the wearer, to give support for any part of the outer border and adjacent tread-surfaces of the foot which may meet it. For its forward boundary, this plane foot-engaging surface of the shoe curves rather abruptly down at 26 to meet the low-er insole-surface 27 at the ball-portion, upon which rest the phalanges 18. This portion 27, to the extremity of the toe of the shoe, need not be materially different from any rationally formed footwear. It will be seen that substantially the entire arch-structure, lying, as already pointed out, between the inferior projection 17 of the os calcis and the forward ends 15 of the metatarsals, has afforded upon its natural depressed outer side the support necessary to preserve the normal foot-balance, and relieve the inner or elevated side of injuriousstrain. The departure at 26 from the plane surface is made neces sary by the presence of the heel upon the shoe, and comes at the highly fieXiblejoint-s between the metatarsals and the phalanges, which readily-adapt themselves to it. 1 wish to observe, however, that to obtain the full benefit of my invention, the heel should be relatively low, preferably not exceeding in height one and one-quarter inches. More over, the shank-portion should be wider than is usually found in shoes, it being particularly essential that it should substantially conforn'i to the outer border of the contact-surface of the foot.

Since the outer side of the ,plane supporting surface 21 is subjected to heavy downward stresses, and since the relief of the arch from strain depends upon integrity of this surface, I strongly reinforce it 'by a stiffening piece 28, which extends from a point at the rear of the hee1-breast forward over the curved sole-portion 26. As'there is relatively little weight upon the innerside of the surface 21, the reinforcement 28 need not go laterally beyond about the longitudinal axis. The stiffening piece may be constructed of sheet steel, say twenty-gage, and is shown as having at its forward end a transverse slot 29 to receive a slip '30 of some such material as fiber, reachingbeneath its lower end and serving to prevent this from cutting the sole.

In putting my invention into effect,I-I employ a last 31 (Fig. 6), having a preferably plane heel-seat-portion 32, which is con" tinued forward by a shank-.portion33 alined therewith and presenting a plane surface transversely and also longitudinally to a line adjacent to the ballvportion 34. A

sharply down-curved portion 35 connects the portions 33 and 34, the altitude o'fthis curve being substantially equal'to the height of the heel which isto be attached to the shoe. The forepart of the last may be of any approved orthopedic type.

My invention, in addition toits principal effect of preventing and relieving archstrain, also leads to-highly useful resultsin connection with shoes made in accordance with it. The heels of such shoesrun over very slowly, because of the distribution over the supporting surface 21 of weight heretofore carried almost wholly by the heel, and because the foot is positively prevented by this surface 21 from rolling outwardly. Up-- pers of such shoes are not deformed by being forced to the outsidein wear, as t'he inseam from which the upper starts; is:in the same horizontal level as the ,bottom of thefoot, the upper rising substantially vertically from said inseam, and there being little-or no surplus stock to full out; lateral movement of the foot is preventedbytheextended contactsurface 21 and the heel does not exaggerate the side press-urebybeingrun over. Consequently, a freedom from deformation of the upper and a permanent snug fit is maintained. For the same general reasons, low shoes do not gap at the tops.

I claim:

1. A heeled shoe for the prevention and relief of flattened arches, comprising a shank-portion having a foot-supporting sur-- face extending at its outer side forwardly from the heel-seat into proximity with the tread-surface of the sole in a plane substantially parallel to the tread-surface of the heel and sole, such parallel portion also extending in the same plane transversely to the opposite side of the shank beneath the extreme outer portion of the foot of the wearer.

2. A heeled shoe for the prevention and relief of flattened arches, comprising a sole with the inner face of the shank-portion lying in a plane which is horizontal in the normal or standing position of the foot and 3. A heeled shoe comprising a shank-por- I tion having a foot-supporting surface extending at its outer side forwardly from the heel-seat into proximity with the tread-surface of the sole in a plane substantially parallel to the tread-surface of the heel and sole, and an upper rising substantially vertically from the outer side of the shank portion.

Signed at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of lsdassachusetts this 2nd day of February, 1922. a

v FREDERICK HUNTER. 

